As of now, just two smartphones have seen their official Android 2.2 (Froyo) rollout begin: the Nexus One and HTC's EVO 4G. Hacks and leaked ROMs are out there if you feel like rooting, but the official installation is usually a lot less buggy. Motorola's DROID was one of the first major Android 2.0 handsets to take Android to the mainstream, and many expected that it would be one of the first phones out to receive Google's latest Android build. If you take "one of the first" literally, we suppose it still will be, but it won't delight people as much as you may have expected.

According to Verizon Wireless spokesperson Brenda Raney, the Android 2.2 build for the DROID won't include two of its most highly anticipated features, but we cannot say that we're surprised. Mobile HotSpot and Internet Tethering were two aspects of Froyo that gave the OS a serious leg-up over iOS back when we reviewed it, but of course, U.S. carriers want consumers to pay extra for amenities like that. Because carrier's have such control over software in America, Verizon will not be pushing those two features live on the DROID when the updates start flying this week.

Here's the full quote: "The Droid by Motorola doesn't have [the] hardware to support a Mobile Hotspot. With tethering there is no Connection on the PC side that will allow you to tether the device so the answer is that option isn't part of this update."

Honestly, most of this sounds untrue. The DROID has the power to surf to Flash-enabled Websites, but not to use the built-in Wi-Fi radio to distribute 3G? Sounds like hot air to us. In reality, we didn't expect Verizon to go along with this anyway, but these excuses are certainly questionable. In fact, we have to wonder how badly VZW simply wants DROID users to upgrade to the DROID X or incoming DROID 2. Either way, the Froyo update just became a lot less exciting for original DROID users.